Moving On
by Darkmoonphase
Summary: Deidara sinks into a depression after he moves and leaves everything he thought he knew behind. But as his life continues, he finds out things he never would have expected to know. As his life changes, so does he and soon he learns what life really is.
1. Prologue: It started when…

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
**

**Moving On**

Summary: I want things to slow down. Promises are being broken. We're all saying good-bye. Everything's changing. kisaXita, kakuXhidan, peinXkonan

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_**A/N: I must explain the family tree really fast. Tsunade married Jaryia first and they had Hidan, Ino and Naruto. Then they divorced. Tsunade married Orochimaru next and they had Deidara and Tobi. I have to make up a few people for kids, but not many. Deidara's cousin is Kiba. (Don't ask, just go with it. Don't complain, just read.) And if I think of anymore relations, I'll let you know. And Sasori and Deidara are just friends…best friends… Please enjoy.**_

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**Prologue: It started when… **

_I'm not so sure when everything started changing. Maybe it was when I turned 17? Or maybe it was way back when I met all my friends? I don't really know. But I do know that it all started changing too fast for me. One minute, I was oblivious to everything. And the next, I didn't even know who I was. _

_I remember when Sasori, Itachi, and I promised that we'd be friends forever. That nothing would change that. That we'd never move too far from each other. When did that promise become nonexistent? _

_Wait. Am I getting to far ahead already? Maybe I should backtrack some. I'll have to think back and decide when all this really started, because I'm not really sure. Some events didn't really matter, and some mattered so much to me. But I think I remember when it all really started. _

_I was 15 – almost 16 – Sasori and Itachi were 17; and Kisame was 18. This was when I _think_ everything started changing._

My sister, Ino, was 25 then; Hidan was 23; and Tobi was 14. Ino was living with her husband and three kids. Hidan was living with his boyfriend in an apartment not far from our home.

Mom took Tobi and I into her room looking like she might cry. She sat down on her bed and looked at us both. We just stood there, not really sure what was happening.

"You're father and I have thought about this a lot and we think this is the right thing to do," she had told us. "We decided that we're going to get a divorce."

Tobi started whimpering about how that didn't seem fair, that they could work through it. Mom said they had tried. I couldn't wrap my head around it. It didn't seem right. They had always seemed so happy around us. _Around us, _I realized. Dad had always seemed so nice when Tobi was around, but when everyone was gone, he'd hit me. It must be the same thing with Mom and Dad – arguing when Tobi and I weren't around.

I sank to the ground and looked up at Mom, listening to her explain all the reasons she needed the divorce. I wondered why it was such a big deal to me.

"Can I tell my friends, yeah?" I had asked Mom, suddenly hoping I'd have _someone _to talk to other than my annoying brother.

Mom nodded and said, "Yes, of course."

When she was finished, I raced out of the room and planted myself in front of the computer, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over. I opened up my email and sent one to each of my friends telling them the news and asking if they could come over for awhile. A few minutes later, I got several emails back from my friends telling me that they'd be over soon. I sighed in relief and started flipping through old emails while I waited for them to come over.

My friends and I hadn't been able to get instant messaging for the longest time, so we had invented what we called "improvising IM" – where we basically stayed on our emails for hours at a time and sent emails back and forth as fast as we could so it would feel like we were instant messaging. It had been pretty fun then. I stared at some of the emails that I remember we'd sent like that. We had said some pretty random crap.

I sighed, exited my email and turned off the monitor. I got up and was going to my room to find something to do while I waited when the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs and opened the door for my friends. Once they were all there, we went up to my room and took our rightful places around the room.

"Man, what happened? I thought you're parents were tight," Kisame had said, leaning back against the wall.

"Yeah," Itachi muttered, resting against the wall next to my dresser.

"I thought they were too, yeah. But they've been fighting at night when Tobi and I are asleep. I guess they're just sick of it, yeah," I sighed and hugged one of the smaller pillows I had on my bed.

"I guess we kind of saw it coming; we just didn't want it to happen…Who are you going to live with? Your mom or your dad?" Kisame asked and smiled when Itachi got up and threw a blanket from the end of my bed at him.

"You're so good at being sensitive, Kisa!" Itachi cried.

I couldn't help but smile a little. Those two were always at it – they could brighten my day just a little every time Kisame yelled at Itachi and Itachi threw something at him. I didn't understand how they could still be friends if they were always at each other's throats. "Probably my mom, yeah. I doubt she'd let me go with my dad." I felt like crying. Dad had somehow always been part of my life, I'd ignored all the punches I'd received and just believed that he was the best dad in the world.

Kisame cursed and all my friends were yelling at me at once. Telling me that Dad wasn't a great dad like I believed; saying the same things they always do about him. I just leaned back on some of the bigger pillows of my bed and stared at the ceiling while I pretended to let it sink in. I wanted my parents to stay together so we could continue being a family. But I knew I didn't have a choice in this. I was stuck going where I was told to go until someone came up with something else.

We talked until Mom announced it was almost time for dinner and that all my friends had to go home. We slumped down the stairs and I walked them to the door, waving "bye".

Sasori stopped for a minute before he left the doorstep and said, "I want us all to go live somewhere else, that's what I want. Away from our parents and crummy lives. Someday, let's all go someplace and start over, 'kay?"

I stared at him for a minute then smiled and nodded thinking that sounded nice. "Yeah," I said and then watched him leave. As I walked to the dining room to eat, I decided that I hoped wherever we went, would be far away.

A few weeks later, Dad moved into Tobi's room and my little brother moved into my room. I didn't get my own space anymore; it was invaded by my brother. Mom and Dad got their own spaces though. I was so jealous. It wasn't fair. Why didn't they just kick Dad out of the house? Because that's what it felt like they were getting ready to do.

I felt like I was suffocating. It was going too fast. When was it going to slow down?

A month later, Tobi's best friend, Karin, came back from Cala to spend a few days with us. Tobi and Karin hadn't seen each other since last summer; they were psyched to have some time with each other. But they also liked torturing me. So they set up a tent in the backyard and dragged me out for some of the day.

We caught up with each other, talking about their boyfriends and girlfriends. She and Tobi loved torturing me by not letting me see my friends and making me talk to them. We thought back on that a bit.

Today didn't seem so bad. Tobi needed help spilling the news about our parents' divorce. When we told Karin about it, she gasped and started sympathizing with us. That's what I liked most about her – she wanted to help, she wasn't just about to put the subject away when she didn't want to hear it anymore. She'd let the person talk about what was bugging them until _they _were tired of talking about it.

I finally escaped them at around eight at night and called over Sasori. Tonight felt like one of those nights where I didn't want to talk, just fool around and I needed my best friend for that. Sasori and I came up with the best scenarios and loved to act them out until we fell over laughing. The overdone drama just killed us.

We hung out in my room for all of a minute before we moved out into the upstairs family room. We jumped around on furniture and ran around the upstairs screaming and laughing manically until we couldn't breathe anymore. I won that scenario. The bad guys always seem to win in our games. When Mom called us downstairs for ice cream, it was ten at night. Thirty minutes later, I said "bye" to Sasori and bolted upstairs to get ready for bed and then just sat on my bed dodging thoughts that started surfacing.

What was going to happen when Mom and Dad got the divorce? What about all my friends?

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_**A/N: Some of it might be detailed and some might not. I had thought this up awhile ago and I just took the time to try and write it out. So, I remember some of it really well and other parts…nada. Be patient? I'm pretty sure the story will get better.**_

_**Please review.**_


	2. Don't let The Monster get you

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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**Chapter 1: Don't let The Monster get you**

September rolled around and Hidan and his boyfriend, Kakuzu, moved back into our basement. It was really good to see my older brother, but his boyfriend really and truly scared me. He always wore a mask concealing everything but his eyes – it made me think of a burglar. I didn't spend much time with Hidan and Kakuzu; they spent most of their time in the basement and I spent most of my time up in my room with Sasori.

I loved Hidan; I just hadn't seen him in so long. He had met Kakuzu in some gaming store when he had still lived with us. Then he had taken off with his new boyfriend to Eya and we didn't see him for a year or so. Suddenly, he calls Mom and says he and Kakuzu were coming home and they take an apartment not far from our house. Next thing I know, they want to move back in with us. So we let them. I didn't really know Kakuzu before; I had just seen him a few times. Now it was for real. I was living in the same house as the freak. It felt scarier than I had imagined.

I was forced to eat dinner with Hidan and Kakuzu at night though; so all my avoiding boiled down to being pointless. Tobi was just shy. I don't think he was really scared of Kakuzu like me, he just didn't know him so it was hard to say that he was going to be part of the family. Mom kept saying that they were made for each other. I couldn't really see it. I don't think I was looking hard enough then. Hidan and Kakuzu had gotten matching tattoos on their wrists and Kakuzu had both his ears and his tongue pierced – not that I'd seen that piercing; I could hear it when he talked and Hidan had mentioned it once.

They flirted over dinner until I thought I was going to be sick because of how uncomfortable it got.

--

A year later, in May, and everyone was getting along. I still didn't get too close to Hidan and Kakuzu, but I was used to them talking to me and trying to get along with me; especially Kakuzu. I think he wanted me to accept him. But there was no way. He was too weird. I spent as much time as I could away from the house during the summer; going to Itachi's, Kisame's or Sasori's place. When they couldn't hang with me, I'd watch TV and try to ignore Kakuzu when Hidan went to work and he needed someone to talk to.

I felt kind of bad for him; I mean, it would hurt me if I got shafted all the time. But I also wanted him to know that I didn't like him. It was getting harder to hate him though. I'd see how happy Hidan seemed when he was around and I'd feel grateful. I'd never seen Hidan out of the basement for so long. And Kakuzu _was_ funny. It was hard to hide my smiles when he accidentally said something "inappropriate"; and it was even harder to try not to laugh when he spilled or dropped something and tried to make up curse words because I guess I wasn't supposed to hear the actual word.

By July of that year, Kakuzu had a place in my heart. He was officially a part of my family. I told him that too. He fit right in and when Tobi and I went to grocery stores with Kakuzu, cashiers would ask him if we were his kids. Because of his age, I always laughed. But it just showed how much he looked like us – minus the hair; I still don't know what color it is.

A few months before, Kakuzu and Hidan had adopted a baby boy. He was really cute and watching Kakuzu with him made me feel guilty for ever hating the man. Danean wasn't even one yet, but he was trying to do things that he shouldn't be able to do until he was two. Hidan and Kakuzu were always saying how smart Danean was. I felt a little jealous. Mom loved him and Dad seemed to like him as well – even though he was out of the house so much I didn't know how he could know the baby even existed.

I was often asked to baby-sit Danean. I liked to have Sasori over when Mom, Kakuzu and Hidan all went out and Tobi went over to his friend, Zetsu's, house. We'd quietly play or watch recorded episodes of our favorite anime while we listened for Danean. It was awesome. I got to hang out with Sasori for a few hours uninterrupted. I did love Danean though; every time I thought I heard him, I'd throw myself into his room and check on him. Half the time he was never awake.

One night though, when Mom, Hidan and Kakuzu had gone out to drink a little, I was home with Dad and Danean. Kakuzu had made sure it was alright for me to watch his baby – double-checking with Mom and Dad.

I was in the basement watching TV and listening for Danean. At nine-thirty, Dad called down to me and told me it was almost time for me to go to bed. I was confused and told him that I had to listen for Danean. He said that Kakuzu hadn't checked with him. I was even more confused; sure that he had. I told Dad that. He said that he hadn't; I only had a few more minutes and that I should check on Danean one more time before I went to bed; then he'd watch him. Scared that I might get hit if I didn't do what I was told, I gathered my notebook that I'd been writing in and turned off the TV. I went into Danean's room and checked to make sure he was still asleep and then went up to my room.

I wrote what Dad had said in my journal before I went upstairs.

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One day in September, Dad, Hidan and Danean stayed home while Mom, Tobi, Kakuzu and I went to see Ino and her little family. Ino and her husband, Shikamaru, were living in a big apartment while they saved up for a house; Ino was training in a nail saloon, doing peoples nails and Shikamaru was some business guy – I had never taken the time to learn what company he was working for or what Ino was trying to become. Dad and Hidan were supposed to be home then doing yard work while Danean napped and Ino did Mom's nails.

Tobi and I slipped away from the adult's conversation and went to play with Ime, Jill and Inin – my sister's kids. Ime was 6, Jill was 4 and Inin was 2; they were really no fun to play with. But we endured because Tobi and I really liked to see our nephews and niece. We hung out in the boys' room until I heard some of the adults start to panic. Then I told Tobi and the kids to stay there for a minute and that I'd be right back.

I went into the dining room where the adults were and whisper/asked Mom what had happened. She told me that Dad had tried to hit Hidan with a wrench. Apparently, Hidan had sat down to take a break from mowing the lawn and Dad flipped out on him and wanted to know why he wasn't working. Then almost hit him with a wrench. Hidan had freaked out and went into Danean's room and locked the door. Mom decided that they were safe and told me to go back and play.

Tobi and the kids wanted to know what happened. I whispered the story in Tobi's ear and the kids begged to know what happened. I told them it wasn't important and Ime hid in his closet. After several attempts to get him out, Tobi and I gave up and told the adults what happened in the room. Mom said it was time for us to go and Ino said she'd go get her son out.

We all said good-bye and left the apartment. The car ride home was pretty quiet. Tobi kept asking for details of the story and I just didn't want to know. I leaned against the window and tuned everyone out. I wished things would slow down. And I couldn't figure out why Dad had tried to hit Hidan. I thought he just hated _me_.

Something crossed my mind suddenly. I had been telling Danean stories of how a little boy would defeat all the monsters in his closet. And when he had nightmares – we could tell when he had because he'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming and refusing to go back to bed – I'd tell him if he had bad dreams about monsters that all he had to do was chase them away.

Now I thought about that. I thought about real life and what had happened in it so far. Dad was the monster. And we were all scared of him now. We can't chase something like that away. We could only run away from it.

_Don't let the monster get you…_


	3. You've been Booed

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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**Chapter 2: You've been Booed!**

It was October and I was home alone with Kakuzu and Danean. Dad had been kicked out of the house. Tobi and I could only see him with adult supervision (not that we really wanted to see him). I had cried when I talked to him over the phone. He had been yanked from my life when he had been there all along. Then I decided I didn't want to care anymore. So I didn't talk to him over the phone again and I didn't want to see him. If he was going to be kicked out of my life, I had to help myself by pretending he was never there.

I stood next to Kakuzu, watching him do dishes. I had a map of Asia next to me for reasons I forgot. Suddenly, Kakuzu casually asked, "You know where Suna is?"

I paused, then put my map on the counter and searched Japan for it. Once I found it, I put a finger on the dot that represented it and said, "Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering…" Kakuzu was trying to keep his tone offhanded and casual, but he was definitely excited about something. "What do you think about it?"

I stared at him for a minute and then slowly said, "I don't really know, yeah. I haven't heard much about it. And I've never been there either, yeah." Then something clicked and I smiled. "Are we moving there?"

Kakuzu put the dish he'd been rinsing into the dishwasher and turned to face me. "Maybe…Mom and Hidan put in the paperwork to get transferred. They're job is opening a new call center in Suna and we thought it might be good to move there and try to start over." He had started calling my mom "Mom" like me. And Hidan and Mom both worked at the same place.

I was kind of excited and kind of scared. Starting over sounded nice, though I wasn't _quite _sure what we were starting over from. But then Sasori and the rest of my friends…How could I leave them? I was sure that I'd be able to make new friends, but it had been hard enough to make these friends. I kept the smile on my face as I said, "It sounds fun, yeah. When do we know if we're going?"

"Sometime near the end of the month, I think," Kakuzu said, sounding happy that I seemed to want to go. "We aren't going to start packing until we know and we're not going to tell Tobi until we know for sure."

I nodded in understanding. Tobi worried a lot and got overly excited when he thought something big was going to happen. It could be very annoying. And sometimes it could come in handy when you forgot something – he would always remember.

I told Kakuzu that I wanted to go upstairs and draw. He told me I couldn't tell my friends yet. I didn't. I took the map and went upstairs. I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling while I tried to tell myself that this was going to be good.

--

There was this thing that the neighbors used to do before I moved. It was called "Boo". You took a plate of treats and a paper that says that you've been booed (with a ghost on it) and how you have to copy the flyer and tape it to a neighbor's door with the treats. But you couldn't get caught. It was fun just to try and figure out who gave it to you and send it on, hoping they wouldn't catch you.

I never thought much of it; it was just something that happened every year around Halloween and I was used to it.

When it didn't show up that year, I felt like I'd lost something. A tradition was broken, and we didn't have time to start it there. I'd sighed and sucked it up, still hoping for the best of my Halloween party.

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We heard on Halloween morning that we were going to move.

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My Halloween party hadn't been much of a party. I'd invited Kisame, Itachi, and Sasori and Tobi had invited Zetsu. We hung around the house for awhile and ate pizza while we watched 60's horror movies. We got past the second movie and decided to go trick-or-treating. It was our last year, Tobi and Zetsu still had two. It was Danean's first year.

We went out and got as much candy as we could and then my friends and I ditched Tobi, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan and Danean to go to one of our other friends' Halloween party. They were watching some horror movie that I couldn't stand to watch. I kept dodging most of it by going to the snack table or going behind a wall; once or twice, I even hid in the bathroom for a few minutes. When Mom came to pick up my friends and me, I was so grateful that I didn't have to endure anymore.

My mom dropped off all my friends and took me home. I leaned against my window and smiled. I was happy that I'd got to spend some time with my friends before I moved, since I hadn't had one class with my friends and didn't see them often in the halls. And I had gotten a lot of candy, too.

This was the first Halloween that I had ever had where I didn't go to my grandparents' house. I didn't even think twice about it.


	4. Say GoodBye to your Childhood Days

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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**Chapter 3: Say Good-Bye to your Childhood Days**

My family and I decided we wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with everyone before we left for Suna. I came up with "Thanxmas" – where it was Thanksgiving and Christmas combined since we wouldn't be here for the holidays past Thanksgiving. I wanted to plan it, but couldn't get anywhere with it; no one agreed and no one helped me. Finally, I gave up and waited for our early Thanksgiving to arrive.

I think I spent two days with Sasori before our early holiday arrived. We spent it playing our games for as long as we could and talked about everything we could think of. Eventually, Sasori's grandma started keeping him even busier and I didn't get another chance to see him.

When Thanksgiving came around and Ino and her family and our close neighbors came over, it was spent with Ino doing the girls' nails and all the men talking about sports. I hung out in my room with my nephew, Ime. He drew me a picture and I dated it and wrote it was by him. I later lost that picture, sadly.

The night was short and goodbyes were heart filled with fear that we wouldn't see each other for a long time. I held back tears the whole time.

I'm pretty sure that was the last time I saw Ino and her family out of a picture.

--

As we packed for the next week, I kept trying to get in touch with Sasori to try and play one last game with him before I moved. But every time I called, his grandma would answer and tell me he wasn't there. I felt like crying. I didn't though.

Two nights before we left, Sasori and his grandma dropped by. Sasori gave me a gift and a card. We hugged each other and told each other how much we'd miss each other. When he left, I sat on the stairs and cried. I cried so hard I didn't cry for a long time. I held onto the card and kept the gift – a key chain – on my keys. It hurt. I felt torn. I thought that this was going to be easy. What had I been thinking?

Sasori, Kisame, Itachi and I had known each other since we were in third grade. What made me think saying "goodbye" would be easy? It was like trying to get over a loved one's death.

I didn't want to move anymore.

--

The night before we left, we were so tired. We hadn't slept on beds in three nights, so they had been spent practically restless. We all slept on whatever blankets and pillows we hadn't packed. We had put a lot of our things in storage because we couldn't take them with. The rest was already in the truck Mom was going to drive. Hidan didn't have his license yet, but he was going to drive the car anyway.

We slept for a few hours that night and then got up and got the car and truck ready – making sure that Tobi, Danean and I would all be comfortable. Kakuzu strapped Danean in and gave him a blanket and a pillow then moved on to help me make a little bed in the back of the car. Tobi sat in the truck with Mom. We were getting ready to leave when Hidan got out of the car. I sat up and looked out the closest window.

A cop car was by the truck; a cop and mom were standing outside of the truck talking. My heart skipped a few beats – afraid that they were going to arrest someone. The cop didn't. When he left, Hidan and Kakuzu went to talk to Mom. By that time though, the pills I had taken to tame my car-sickness were kicking in and I was getting tired. I laid my head down on the pillow and murmured comforting words to a restless Danean. When the car doors both opened and Hidan and Kakuzu got back in, I struggled to get my voice loud enough for them to hear.

"What happened, yeah? Why was the cop there?" I asked wearily.

"Nothing. Mom just got served with divorce papers," Kakuzu said, sounding less convincing than I would have liked. But I let it drop. I forced myself to sit up and looked out the back window. I watched my old house disappear as we got farther from it. I felt like crying; my heart twisted and pulled in so many directions, all I was aware of was the pain. I was saying goodbye to my friends, my home, and my life. And I doubted that I'd be coming back to it anytime soon.

--

I slept most of the way to Suna. I vaguely remember waking up whenever we stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom or, once in awhile, a stoplight. There was one stop, where I hadn't woken up enough and my pants that I had worn (that were three sizes too big) weren't tied anymore; I stepped out of the car and started walking and my pants fell down. I remember looking down at them for a minute before pulling them up and crying to Kakuzu to wait for me while he walked off laughing.

--

When we finally got to Suna, we crashed in a hotel and slept all of about four hours. As soon as I woke up the next morning (actually, it was a few hours _into _the morning), Kakuzu was pounding on our door. I dragged myself to the door and opened it. And was almost trampled by Kakuzu and Danean. Kakuzu had a phone book in one hand and was holding Danean's hand in the other. I sighed, shut the door and climbed back into bed.

Kakuzu pestered Mom until she got up and then they started flipping through the phone book trying to find ads for apartments for rent. Kakuzu kept calling numbers after numbers until he got one that said there was an opening. We all scrambled to gather our things and get dressed, and then we all piled into the truck and car.

When we got to the address, my first thoughts were like the ones I'd been thinking all the way through Suna: _Stucco…So much stucco…_ The apartments were more like connected town homes and instead of numbers, they had letters. The owner of the apartments came to meet us and showed us around the empty one. It was old, that was for sure. There were only two bedrooms and they were both pretty small for our big family.

But it was all we had. So the adults set it up while Tobi and I walked out and stared at the big dip separating the two sides of the buildings. It was filled with rocks and a tree stood by the railing by the stairs on the right side. A tanning chair was on the other side of the rocks (it was separated by a strip of sidewalk). I took a minute or two to stare at that and wonder why it was there. There were a few potted plants on the strip of sidewalk separating the front and back sides of the building and a corner or two on either side was filled with small trees and flowers. I was surprised that they could get that many plants to grow in this place. The only thing I'd seen when I was awake, was sand and rocks.

Mom, Hidan and Kakuzu came out and told us we were going to come back in awhile. Tobi and I stood up and followed the adults. I stared around as we went back to the vehicles; there weren't any kids out and I was cold.


	5. It's Christmastime

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.**

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**Chapter 4: It's Christmastime**

When we were finally semi-settled into one apartment, it was near Christmastime. We shoved as many boxes as we could into the small storage space under the stairs and lined the rest up by the wall. It was cramped and suffocating, but we managed. Once in awhile, we'd get wood from our backyard space and build a fire in the fireplace, making our dreary home seem cozier.

I shared a room with Mom, Danean and Tobi while Hidan and Kakuzu got their own room. After a few nights there, I got used to Mom and Tobi's snoring and Danean talking in his sleep. I still didn't fall asleep until around one in the morning though, since we usually went to bed at eleven at night or even midnight.

I spent most of my time in my room listening to Christmas music or downstairs watching TV while Hidan and Mom went to work. Sometimes I'd go outside and endure the cold just so I could play some of the games that Sasori and I used to play. It was lonely. I liked to help Kakuzu in the kitchen or just talk to him while we watched TV and Danean slept. But I still really missed Sasori. The days dragged on and we tried to make each one somewhat fun.

One morning, Tobi and I woke up early (for us) and wandered downstairs while everyone else slept. We got a shock to see the family room decorated for Christmas. We had thrown out our big Christmas tree but brought our smaller ones. One of the smaller ones was decorated with some of the ornaments that we had brought and looked really pretty next to the brick fireplace (or rather, on it). I stared at our decorated living room in awe. It made me happy, like I always felt around Christmastime and it was a relief from all this stress.

The time to Christmas passed quickly and the next thing I knew, it was Christmas Eve. We huddled up in the family room and talked about past Christmases while we drank cheap packaged hot chocolate that I had made for everyone. We went to bed early; I hoped for the best, since I knew that we didn't have much money. My parents had told me that Santa wasn't real a few years back (even though I had had my suspicions all along), but Sasori and I still had a part of us that kind of believed. I hoped that Santa was real that night when I went to bed, knowing that if he wasn't, all anyone would have would be the few sticks of gum that I had bought and distributed among their stockings.

That Christmas was depressing. I like to think that it showed that Christmas could be good without all that material stuff as long as you have your family. But I know that it's only partly true.

When Tobi and I woke up, all my hope came crashing down. There were two presents under the tree wrapped in newspaper and the three cards that I had made for my family; our stockings were empty – save for the two items that I had put in each of them and an orange. I looked at the names on the newspaper wrapped gifts and found that they were addressed to Tobi and me. I wanted to cry. Both out of joy that my family tried to make this Christmas seem better and also because it was so horribly sad.

When everyone else woke up, I made everyone search the bottoms of there stockings where they found the sticks of gum and a coin varying in price (a penny, dime, nickel and quarter). Then they read their cards from me – Mom cried – and Hidan and Kakuzu told us to open our gifts. I got a box set of books that I had seen on their shelves everyday back home. They had taken something that I knew they cared about and gave it to me. Tobi had gotten a bracelet that I remember seeing Hidan wear a lot before he met Kakuzu. I'm pretty sure that Danean didn't get anything but he was too young for it to matter to him.

There were a few feet of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. Hidan and Mom weren't going anywhere. When we tried to get the car out it wouldn't budge. So we got the last of the firewood from the backyard unit, lit a fire and had hot chocolate with the breakfast that Mom, Hidan and Kakuzu made. Then Danean, Tobi and I all watched Christmas specials while the adults napped. That Christmas was pretty boring and depressing. I'm pretty sure that I spent most of my time remember the bigger Christmases that my family had had in the past.

I wanted to go home.

--

**A/N: Sorry this is so late. I didn't even think about it. But, I hope you still like it. I'll update again later with a chapter unrelated to a holiday...I think. Well, anyway, please review. **


	6. Cry Me a River

**5: Cry Me a River**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or characters thereof. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.  
**

_**A/N: I do realize that on specific sites, you can find everyone's birthdays. But for this story, I had to use different birth dates. Sorry to anyone who thinks I shouldn't do that.**_

--

By January, Tobi, Mom and I had moved into our own apartment across the ditch in the same complex. Unfortunately, in that same month Tobi and I had picked up an annoying little friend. Her name was Sakura and she was six-years-old and she was spoiled. We put up with her because we didn't have any other friends at the apartments. Once, I was supposed to go over to Hidan and Kakuzu's house and Kakuzu had unlocked the door for me. Sakura had snuck inside and planted herself on their couch. When they woke up and went down stairs, they freaked out because she scared them. She didn't get that some things got on peoples nerves – a lot of things that she did – and some didn't.

We spent most of our time at Hidan and Kakuzu's house because all the adults were worried about Tobi and I being over there alone (however, when they needed to go to the grocery store, they left Danean, Tobi and I at their house alone). I used most of my time staring at the TV, helping Kakuzu with Danean, drawing, and playing in my room when it was too cold or outside when I was desperate. The days were lonely. I bonded with Kakuzu even more though. We were always hanging out with each other in the living room or kitchen. I helped him with dinners and watching Danean to pass the time. The weeks were starting to turn to months and the months dragged by. I started watching a new anime and became obsessed with it. During the spring, I was outside a lot playing games based off of it.

--

May was my birthday month. I turned sixteen. I had an American birthday with some of their candy on a cake and I got more tea. Since I didn't have any friends, it was a family birthday. But it was an awesome birthday. I never did get to use the rice I was given though…

--

I remember July the best. I'd been keeping in touch with Sasori since I left by phone and email, but Mom told me I could finally tell him my phone number so he could call me. That month, he told me he'd started writing poetry. Ever since I had met him, I'd wanted to be _like_ him. I remember at one point, I tried to get into liking horses more because he liked them so much and I wanted us to have more in common. I didn't think he'd like me as much if I didn't like what he liked, which made me more concerned about the things I was interested in. When he told me about his poetry, I was still convinced of this, so I decided to try writing poetry. My first poem was called "Sincerely". It was about how much I hated Dad for all the pain he was causing my family. I'd learned more about who he _wasn't_ in the past few months and I'd been growing a steady hatred of him. He had forced my family into hiding, he'd molested Danean, and he was still throwing things at us.

By September, Mom changed my phone number because of the growing threats. I was upset because then Sasori couldn't call me anymore and I had to guess times that I could call him. In that same month, Kakuzu's mom, Cami, came to visit. Mom figured out that she was trying to kill herself with overdoses of medicine. One night, she tried some therapy thing on her. Tobi, Danean and I went outside to avoid the noise. We played with Danean in the rocks for awhile – we were still trying to teach him not to throw rocks. Mom came out and told us that everything was fine. Tobi was afraid of what Mom had told Cami; about how she should just kill herself and they'd help. But Mom told him that it snapped things back into perspective for Cami. It was a very depressing night.

--

A few weeks later, Mom asked us to call Dad to ask for money. We put him on speakerphone so both Tobi and I could talk to him at the same time. It didn't help me. He kept telling us lies and that he loved us and I wasn't convinced. Tobi swore at him a few times – called him a jack-ass and such – and Dad told him that he would "appreciate it if we didn't talk to him like that." I was enraged. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but instead, I told him that Tobi was only voicing his feelings and he should shut up and listen. He told us that he was sending us gift cards for Target. We needed more than that; we needed money for food and bills. But we didn't push our luck anymore. I could barely talk I was crying so hard and Tobi didn't really want to talk to him anyway. He said he loved us and I almost told him that I hated him. But I couldn't bring myself to say it. So I said, "Sure, whatever." And I ended the phone call. I curled up on the couch and cried.

Cami, Kakuzu, Hidan and Mom all told us that we did great and that they'd never ask us to talk to him again if we didn't want to. When they finally got me to stop crying, my head hurt. Mom made me a milkshake.

--

I kept my mind off of Dad. I got on the internet all the time, reading stories about my favorite cartoons and such; reading books; watching TV; and sleeping. I didn't play much anymore. I couldn't picture it the way I had been able to before. I felt like I was loosing myself; I was writing depressing entries in my diary and telling about what was going on in life when usually I'd be writing about the fun days; I wrote more and more poetry, going from just one notebook to two of them; I wanted to read stories on the computer to loose myself. I started writing my own stories to post and lost myself in a fake world. That's what I made my life like. I recreated it so much, twisted it; sometimes, I forgot what was reality and what was my game. Nothing was real in my world – everything could vanish if I really wanted it gone. My family told me I was depressed, but I told them I was fine.

I wanted to spend my nights awake, watching TV; writing poetry; anything that would let me see what the world was like in the dark. I loved the night. I hated the day and Kakuzu teased me about being a vampire. I thought that was cool and teased back about how maybe I was. It didn't cheer me up any though. Nothing made reality alright. I was all too aware of what real life was like. We were running and hiding – like some big, extravagant game that had my family trapped. I stayed up and listened to Mom talk to Hidan or Kakuzu when they came for quick visits before they put Danean to bed. Nothing was alright; money was tight; they were afraid that Dad had someone following and spying on us. I always felt like crying but every time I wanted to, I never had the tears.

Soon, I started calling Dad by his name, Orochimaru. I hated him so much. Every time I heard his name, I'd tune everyone out and get lost in my fantasy world. I didn't want to hear about him.

--

September was Kakuzu's birthday month. Everyone kept asking him what he wanted and he'd give them a small list of things that sounded like – for the most part – he could pick up whenever he wanted. There were some things that he wanted that Hidan had to order. I couldn't think of anything to give him because everyone else already had it. Eventually I settled on making my own card and giving it to him.

When his birthday came, he got flowers from Hidan. He was so happy because Hidan never did anything that nice. But that night, Hidan got really frustrated – with a cake. He was aiming to make the cake look like something in specific (I don't remember what though) and he couldn't do it. He kept saying that he'd wrecked the cake and Kakuzu tried to say that he hadn't. They ended up fighting over it.

I wanted to make something that would cheer Kakuzu up. So I took the funniest character off of my favorite anime and drew him out in a funny birthday picture for Kakuzu. I made him laugh. It was the start of my big Tammy-trilogy.

--

By the end of September, we moved again. The adults didn't like the apartments; Kakuzu was always scared and Mom was always on edge. We moved to a one-story home in a quiet neighborhood with a few kids that were mostly younger than me. When we first went to see the house, two kids – Hinata and Neji – came and talked to us. They lived just up the street and Tobi liked them. Hinata reminded me of someone I used to know back at my old school and Mom agreed. There was supposed to be a girl about my age living on the street behind mine but I never got to meet her.

Mom and Hidan got people from their work and a few other people that I think they hired to load our stuff into a small truck. It took a day or two to get everything into the new house. We got the big stuff into the truck – that took a few hours in one day – and what was left over went into our van. One time when they went back to the apartments to get a few more things and check on the progress of loading the truck, they left me at the house. I wanted to stay. The house was pretty much empty except some boxes and loose items in the rooms. The living room was empty at that moment. I remember the feeling I had when I stood in the middle of the empty room and stared around at the blank white walls, empty windows and deserted kitchen. It wasn't loneliness or depression; it wasn't hopelessness or boredom; it wasn't uncertainty or insecurity. It felt like the room – empty. I felt _empty _as I looked around.

I had been reading a story that I'd really been into and I decided to keep myself occupied by playing my own version of it. I had sprawled out in the center of the room and started imagining it. When I finally got bored, and a little creeped out by the emptiness and quietness, I went to the kitchen to see what food we had. That was the first time I tried a plain ham sandwich. I had three sandwiches and then went and wandered the house a little. I was sharing a room with Tobi again. As soon as we'd gotten our first boxes and blankets in our new room, we'd chosen sides by placing our things there. We weren't sure how it would go though, because the room was shaped oddly. The window was on the far wall, there was a walk-in space around the door, the closet was on that same wall and then the two remaining walls were empty.

--

When we finally got all our stuff to the house, Mom helped us with our room. The room didn't split like I had thought it would have. I got one side by the right of the window, the side of my bed pressed up against the wall. Tobi got the other side and his bed was placed the same way. Our bedside tables went between them under the window; the desk barely fit on a space by the closet; and we each got a bookshelf at the end of our beds. It looked cramped, but it had enough space for us to spread out a little.

Danean had the next room over, then there was the bathroom and finally Mom's room. Hidan and Kakuzu got the master bedroom and it was just outside of the living room by the laundry room. At night, I'd lay in my bed until one in the morning listening to Tobi snore and, sometimes, I'd even hear Mom's distant snoring. When I walked past Danean's room, I could hear his soft snoring too. At midnight, I'd hear Hidan get up and get some medicine for his stomach when he couldn't sleep. The night always echoed with the noises that everyone made. It was hard for me to sleep there. I eventually plugged my boom-box in next to my pillow where I'd put in an APC CD and listen to certain songs to fall asleep. The boom-box never moved unless I wanted to take it out so I could listen to it while I showered or for Kakuzu and me to listen to when we were making dinner.

Tobi became friends with Hinata and Neji and I usually tagged along when I had nothing better to do. I started calling Sasori only on Saturdays because that seemed like the only time I could catch him. I spent a _little_ less time on the computer, but more time writing stories and poetry and drawing in my room while I listened to my music. Hidan and Mom worked in town; when they had different days off, Mom would take all of us to go pick up Hidan and when it was just her going to work, I had to listen to Hidan cursing in the kitchen every time he cooked. (He loved to cook and bake but every time he went into the kitchen to do so, he'd always burn himself.) I liked to go with Mom to pick up Hidan because it was usually dark by the time we had to go and I loved watching things fly by in the dark.

It wasn't home; I didn't have any _real_ friends, but I was content.

If not a little lonely by that time.

--

_**A/N: If anyone's interested in what "Sincerely" was, go to my profile. I posted it. And I don't know what anime Deidara keeps talking about, I just made one up. And the funniest character in it happens to be named Tammy.**_

_**Please review.**_


	7. What am I?

**6: What am I?**

October rolled around and I was feeling more like myself. Instead of reading my usual happy stories, I was looking for really good horrors to scare me (I found one that gave me chills for weeks after; it was that disturbing). I was making decorations and talking about Halloween. It was the first time I'd felt like me since we'd moved. I felt like I'd come out of a protective bubble and was letting myself out temporarily. Hidan and Kakuzu were also getting hyped up about the upcoming holiday. They wanted to mix-celebrate: take some of our traditions and mix them with their Pagan traditions. We were planning on having chili like we used to at my grandparents house every Halloween; we were going to have some treats that Kakuzu had found in one of their Pagan tradition books; we were going to take Danean trick-or-treating. I was ecstatic. It sounded like fun and I'd get to learn a little more about Kakuzu and Hidan's religion.

I spent more time out of my room during that month. I was on the computer; in Hidan and Kakuzu's room talking with Kakuzu; in the living room watching TV or doing arts and crafts with Kakuzu, Tobi and Danean; playing with Danean until I was on the couch gasping for air and he was running around the room laughing. I was making a big effort to stay out of my room even though that's really where I wanted to be the most. I was playing games again; taking people off my favorite animes, pretending to be one of the characters and I'd play with the other imaginary characters. I never talked aloud when I played, I didn't want to sound crazy. But I was obsessing and turning fake people into my friends and every time I stopped to think about it, I'd feel depressed and think I _was_ crazy. Eventually, though, I didn't think about it. They were my only friends – next to Kakuzu – and if they were all I had, then I was fine with it.

The weeks sped by. I tried to make a doll once with Kakuzu. It had started out as his, but he'd given up and I'd finished it. It wasn't perfect – since I couldn't sew to save my life – but I was proud that I had gotten that far. There were too many holes in it for us to fill it with rice, so Mom kept it on her armoire. She said she was going to fix it for me, but the month was hectic. She and Hidan were working and in their spare time we were getting ready for Halloween. While they were at work, Kakuzu, Tobi and I would plan what we wanted to be for Halloween. We started out with themes: Superheroes and super-villains; people from our favorite adult cartoons (that Tobi and I were allowed to watch). In fact, we even had who we were going to be from each cartoon. We were planning that for awhile, and then time ran out and we improvised.

Hidan was a zombie; I was a vampire (but I didn't have the fake teeth so people kept asking what I was; that was the second year that happened to me); Danean was a bumblebee (and he was scared of his own costume); Tobi was a warlock (for the second time); and Mom and Kakuzu didn't dress up. We went all around the neighborhood, collecting candy and enjoying ourselves. When we got hungry, we went home where Hidan served us bowls of chili. Not many kids showed up at our house saying "Trick-or-treat" that night. We had overloaded on candy that year when every other year we had never had enough. We were a little freaked out by this but we quickly got over that when we realized we had a lot more candy than just our trick-or-treating candy. I stole a lot from our own bucket and stashed it in my room.

--

About a week after Halloween was over, I went back into my protective bubble. I didn't want to be around people unless I had to be – like, at dinner. I almost always went with Mom, Kakuzu, Tobi and Danean when they went to pick up Hidan (except when I wanted to stay on the computer) and the only person I ever put an effort into talking to was Kakuzu. Tobi tried talking to me at night out of habit, but I was never in the mood; I was always tired and never wanted to do anything but lie on my bed, be on the computer, watch TV or talk with Kakuzu.

Hinata and Neji became mean. Neji wanted to go spend time with his other friends and didn't want to play with girls; Hinata was a fifth grade bitch. All she wanted to do was talk with her friends and make fun of people she didn't like. Tobi tried spending time with both of them, but Neji suddenly hated him and Hinata kept shunning him. Crushed, Tobi stopped hanging out with them. When Hinata tried talking to me, I'd give her one worded answers and make up excuses to leave. I didn't want to be around her when she'd hurt my brother.

--

Tobi's birthday was in November. I drew out a Tammy picture for him too. I don't remember his birthday very well, but I know that my picture made him laugh. He didn't get any presents, just a cake, because money was extremely tight then and we barely had enough money to get groceries. Even though Tobi was disappointed by this, he took it in stride and accepted that I was going to be the only one who could give him anything. His birthday was simple.

--

December was freezing. I came out of my bubble halfway – there were days where I wanted to hang out with Kakuzu and make snowflakes with him and there were days were I just wanted to sit in my dark room and listen to music. I felt torn between the Christmas moods and the depressed moods I kept getting. When I wasn't listening to APC or AFI, I was listening to Christmas music on the radio.

I'd been going to the mailbox for Kakuzu because it was all the way by the entrance of the neighborhood and he never wanted to walk that far. When it started snowing, I was half reluctant and half ecstatic. I liked the snow at the same time that I hated it. It was pretty, but I hated the cold since, I swear, I ran cold and was always shivering despite the heater that was constantly on in our house. But I'd go down to the mailbox with the key, get the mail and walk back home. There were two ways to get to the mailbox – one went uphill, around two houses and back down another hill; the other went downhill, around two houses and uphill some. You'd think that they'd be about the same distance, right? I'd tortured myself for awhile by going the first way and coming back to the house the second way. Finally, I got smart and took the second way to and from. It was shorter and I didn't have to go up as much as I had before. But it was long enough that I had time to imagine my game some.

That's what I liked most about going to the mailbox. I could get lost in my games faster and I had more time to imagine them than I did at home where I was on the computer or running after Danean or helping Kakuzu in the kitchen. It was peaceful.

But the winter was cold and even taking the shorter way, my fingers froze, sometimes becoming numb and my nose and ears got just as cold. When Kakuzu realized how cold it got, he let me wear one of his warmer jackets – that gratefully had pockets – and I'd bury my face in it. The cold never stopped my imagination or want to leave the house for five minutes. A few times, I didn't leave until it was dark when it was colder than ever and I'd marvel at the way I could get myself creeped out so quickly. I liked going out at night – even though it was freezing – because I liked seeing the difference in what the neighborhood looked like in the sun and at night.

I felt completely empty when I walked down the streets. I started thinking about life and finding questions that I wanted to answer the next time I had time to think about it. All of the questions seemed to go back to one simple question: What am I?


	8. Other Family

**Chapter 8: Other Family**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or characters thereof. It was written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto.**

Sometimes it was easy to forget that Kakuzu had another family in Eya. This was mostly because Kakuzu hated talking about them. They were mean and secretive; they kept their family reined in close and had practically shunned Kakuzu most of his life because he had tattoos and piercings; his aunt had ridiculed him most of his life and the only person who seemed relatively nice in his family had died in December. His mom was one of the worst next to his aunt Peggy. Kakuzu used to tell us about the times when he had had to go to church with his mom and every time he almost fell asleep, Cami would pinch him so hard he'd have a bruise the next day. Peggy was cruel and she was one of the main people in Kakuzu's family who put him down the most.

But suddenly none of this mattered. Because in January, sometime after our landlord's visit, Mom and Hidan put in requests to be relocated to Eya. Kakuzu almost threw a fit when he found out; he wanted to go to Iwa instead; he kept saying that he didn't want to go back to the place that he'd worked so hard to get away from. I had wanted to go to Eya _because_ of his family that – for the most part – he hated. That and he told me that I'd easily make friends and his uncle would be able to get me into high school in August. I was excited. It all sounded so wonderful. I'd spend more time in Kakuzu's room talking to him about what his family did for the holidays; what they were like; what Eya was like; what the people there were like; if I'd fit in. He always had an answer for me.

After awhile, I got caught up in Valentine preparations and didn't have much time to talk to Kakuzu about Eya. I worked hard at making Valentines and thinking up things I could do for the family. But when I didn't have that to do, I started worrying. Mom wanted to go to Iwa really bad. I was afraid to. I was afraid it'd turn out like the move to Suna even though Mom thought that it was going to be a good move.

Valentine's Day came and went as fast as every other holiday. All I can remember of it was that everyone was happy and Mom and Kakuzu had put Tobi and my Valentine things on our beds. After Valentine's Day though, things went back to their hectic ways. Mom and Hidan _actually_ put in their requests to be relocated to Eya and we were all waiting with baited breath for the results. I asked more about Eya and Kakuzu told me everything he could think of. Before Mom and Hidan put in their requests, we all had a mini-discussion about where we wanted to go and why.

It turned out that I wasn't the only one who was afraid that the move to Iwa would be bad. Hidan agreed because we thought about how we wouldn't know anyone there but we would in Eya. Mom agreed but she still sounded reluctant. Kakuzu argued that he didn't want to go back to his family and Mom told him that we'd have our own place and he could set as many boundaries as he wanted. Tobi was all for Eya because he thought it sounded fun. I agreed with him, but not out loud; out loud I said that at least we'd know people there. And we settled it. To Eya it was.

3

March was warm. All Tobi and I had to wear were light jackets when we wanted to go outside. We didn't really want to until Mom and Kakuzu came home with scooters. Then we opened them up, adjusted them and were outside instantly. We only liked to go up and down our driveway and the driveway across from ours. Hinata stopped by a few times and she told us about all the cool things she'd gotten and rubbed it in our faces. I still know the feelings I had when she did that. I wanted to yell at her; tell her what a bitch she was; kick her; hit her; strangle her. Anything to tell her how much we didn't want to know, how much we didn't really care what she had that she wouldn't be sharing with us. Eventually, she hurt Tobi again and Mom ripped her a new one. A few days later, she was on our doorstep apologizing. Tobi accepted it but he and Hinata weren't as close. In fact, every time she stopped at our house to make small talk with us, he and I would make up excuses to get rid of her.

Tobi and I were always outside playing games on our scooters off of our favorite anime. I only remember this so well because Tobi practically hated playing with me. Any excuse he could come up with to avoid playing with me, he had and he used. I liked the time outside on our scooters because that was the time he would play with me. There wasn't any other time he wanted to play than then. Up and down the driveways and sometimes up and down the street. I started taking my scooter to the mailbox instead but usually only when Tobi came with me. It wasn't as fun as walking for some reason – faster, yes, but fun, no.

3

About a week before St. Patrick's Day, Mom heard about the relocation. We were moving. Hidan hadn't heard anything back but we were so sure that we started packing and looking for homes and trying to get a moving company to move us. A few days before St. Patrick's Day, everything was set up. We hurried to get everything packed and ready for the movers. I remember, there were only a few things left that we weren't taking – my futon, the long couch, I think a chair, the desk where the computer had been, a few TV stands, a desk and Mom's broken armoire.

But the night we were supposed to leave, everything started crumbling. Hidan, Kakuzu and I were trying to pack the carrier that we were planning on putting on the roof of our new car but all of our stuff wouldn't fit. Mom and Kakuzu decided that we couldn't leave that night because of that and also because of something else that I fail to remember right now. I do remember that the moving guy was being a jerk. Or, as Hidan calls him (still), he's a dick. But I don't remember what he did wrong then.

Kakuzu and I dragged the futon mattress onto the living room floor, pulled out a few blankets that we hadn't packed – thankfully – and made all of us beds. Mom slept on the floor in her room; Tobi slept on the couch that we hadn't taken; Hidan slept on the floor next to the futon mattress that Kakuzu and I slept on; and Danean slept in a little nest above my and Kakuzu's heads. I didn't sleep well. Apparently, neither did Hidan or Kakuzu. The only people who barely got enough sleep were Tobi, Danean and Mom.

The next day, we struggled to get the carrier to work. We finally got most of the luggage in and after that, it was only the loose stuff that we had to shove into the car. It was packed. I barely had enough space for myself; things were crammed under our seats and behind our heads; I had books and a few bags between me and Danean; Hidan kept complaining about how he didn't have enough space for his legs; and Mom and Kakuzu seemed like the only ones who were semi-comfortable – Kakuzu because he always kept his legs up when he was in the car and Mom because she was driving.

We made a few stops to take care of a few things and finally the car cleared up a little. I didn't fall asleep that time. Mom had given me non-drowsy Dramamine and I was awake through most of the trip. Danean didn't sleep as much as he had the last trip either. He kept kicking the back of Hidan's seat and crying and talking and asking where we were going (he asked that one several times, especially after we told him) and when he finally fell asleep, he snored and sleep-talked. He even sleep-_sang_. I just leaned my head against the window and watched the world pass me. Every once in awhile, I'd fall asleep and then I'd be awake again.

Kakuzu couldn't sleep in the car. He only slept in the hotels that we stopped at. Hidan would fall asleep listening to his music off of his laptop and when he wasn't asleep or complaining, he'd make play-lists and let us listen to music. Danean would sing along to the ones he knew and at one point, everyone in the car was singing "The Pot" by Tool. We went through several states and stopped to rest at a few different hotels. I remember that at one point, there was a hotel that had so many bad vibes and seemed so creepy to Kakuzu, he was crying and screaming at us that he didn't want to stay there. I thought he was almost getting physically sick as well. After Hidan and Kakuzu went and checked out a room, Kakuzu had calmed down a little. He said that he just wasn't going to sleep under the covers if we were staying there. Mom told him that if it made him that uncomfortable, than we'd go to a different hotel. We went across the street.

After about an hour, we heard sirens close to us. We looked out the window to see what was going on and there were cops at the hotel we had just left. Kakuzu looked like he might want to say, "Told you so." But he never said anything. Mom told him that he was right and we'd trust him if he said that something was wrong. I had been scared. I'd curled up on a bed and watched TV. When it was time for everyone to go to sleep, I put my headphones in and fell asleep to some of my favorite songs.

* * *

_**A/N: Alright, to those of you still reading this and still care, I lied when I said this would be 12 chapters. It turns out that it will probably be longer. I have up until 12 written out but I have to revise chapter 12 and then keep working. Unless you want it to be 12 and then I can write a sequel. It's up to you guys. **_

_**Anyway, sorry this took so long to get out. Hope you guys are still reading. **_

_**Please review.**_


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